Sweet Chick Lit

The Saturday Supper Club is a prime example of a relaxing chick lit read. Don't take it too seriously and read it with a large box of chocolates! I guess as an omnivorous, constant reader, I like a wide variety of styles and am not as picky as some of the other reviewers. I like this book. It is not a serious or literary read, but will pass a few hours of escapism.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for a time-constrained e-ARC. I am under no obligations to post a review, much less a positive one. This review is my own opinion.

This was a well written story but I struggled a little with it because I didn’t particularly like any of the main characters and Ethan’s transgression was something I wouldn’t be able to get past. Also, the sound of their earlier relationship with jealousy and Eve trying to change him, didn’t sound particularly healthy without factoring in the huge ‘mistake’ Ethan then made. Everyone seemed to have some pretty big issues and I wasn’t left feeling particularly happy, but it was an ok story.

Thank you for the opportunity to read this ARC! I didn’t love this book and would prefer not to leave negative reviews.

I did not finish this book at 25%. I could not stand Eve. Or, I should say, I could not stand how this character was written. How in the world did someone think this book was good enough to publish? The dialogue was not realistic, I mean, who talks out loud to themselves all the time? All the characters were immature in as much of the book as I read so, no, I could not finish this book. But thank you for the opportunity.

What would you do if you ran into the love of your life who broke your heart?
But you''re in another, better, relationship.
How do you process the feelings? Do you tell your present boyfriend?

Eve finds herself in this position torn between her past and her present, trying to make sense of everything.
I found her to be a very selfish character - doing what she wanted regardless of the people around her and their advice. The same people who helped her pick up the pieces when he broke her heart.

The description of how everything around her collapses and how she has to try piece things together and decide who she can trust and what she should do next are well written. You get an angle into her confusion and directionless thoughts.

It was not a "WOW" read for me, but not a bad read either - a light, summer beach -read.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for allowing me the chance to read this book.

I enjoyed reading this book but I knew from the beginning that Joe didn't excite Eve the way that Ethan did and the love she had for him was due to longevity and that she was the loved rather than the lover. I would like to see what happens with Maggie and Andrew so perhaps a sequel?

** spoiler alert ** DNF @28%

I just hate miscommunication tropes, so this was definitely not for me.

The writing’s not that great and I absolutely have no clue what the characters are about, but simultaneously hate them. I don’t know how that works...

There’s self-hate, girl-hate, (I suspect) cheating and even a child, miscommunication, or rather non-communication, and general selfishness and douchebaggery of multiple characters. Not for me.

These are the literal notes I made as I went on and read the 100 pages I was able to stand before I thought: ‘this is enough, I’m not enjoying myself’.

Why is she thinking out loud when she’s alone? You’re in a book. You don’t have to say certain things out loud, because we are already in your head...

“It might sound sappy, but Joe had galloped into my life and flung me into his white stallion when I was at my absolute worst. He deserves my complete and utter devotion.” Yes, but only in a healthy way and when we’re talking about cheating. Not because he’s being an angel and you feel like you owe him because of that.

“One night, after watching a film snuggled up on Joe’s sofa, listening to the sounds of the overground train rumbling by outside Joe’s window, we slept together. I’d kept my eyes open because when I shut them Ethan appeared on the backs of my eyelids. But I knew I had to get on with my life now Ethan was gone, and Joe was perfect; he already knew me inside out.”
I’m getting emotional cheating vibes... Also Joe sounds creepy...

Really? We’re just not gonna clear up why he all of a sudden left you three years ago before opening the door for the rest of the guests?

“Even though I had on my new dress I felt drab in comparison and self-conscious of my overly bright hair. She was the type of girl who could wear a sack and still look good. I wasn’t.”
Self deprecation. Nice.

OK so why is he doing a headstand in the middle of the living room again?

And again, the-we-weren’t-able-to-breach-the-topic-of-why-you-left-because-we-were-interrupted-thing happened. God, if you don’t talk about this within this weekend, I swear I'm throwing my e-reader against a wall!

“Did she ever give up? God, she was one of those women who couldn’t relax unless every bloke in the room was drooling over her.”
Yey! We’re girl-hating now...

Next stop: not telling our current boyfriend about one of the guests being an ex-boyfriend, because why did we need to hide that again? Oh, right, because we’re kind of in emotionally cheating territory.

“Dressed in denim shorts and the striped blue-and-white T-shirt, Daisy looked fantastic. She always did. Even when she’d had a sleepless night with Benjamin, she was bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, as if she had just inhaled a pint of wheatgrass juice. Her hair was shiny enough to reflect the clouds, her skin had mother-of-pearl luminescence and her figure was straight and lithe and had the fantastic tone of someone who spent hours in the gym. Mine, on the other hand, had too many curves to keep track off.”
Why are we comparing and downplaying our own looks again!?

Oh no!... Don’t tell me her nephew... No! Is he?...

I threw my e-reader against a wall...

Oh, and apparently Ethan has gone out with Maggie before even checking back in with Eve... That date was apparently more important than explaining about your sudden departure out of your ex girlfriend’s life three years ago while she didn’t even know whether or not you were alive or not?

So, yeah, that was that.

It took me longer than I expected to get into the story and even then, it didn’t pull me in like I had hoped. The premise itself is great but I think the execution just lacked a little something.

The big family secret is definitely something I would have walked away from and I can’t imagine I’m alone in feeling that.

With that being said- it was well written and I will be reading other work from the author!

I enjoyed this book. It was a light fun book initially, becoming darker as it progressed. It was well written but the major secret that came out would have had many people walking away and I don’t think Eves feelings on this were explored fully. The characters were well developed, the supporting cast had some great stories of their own. I felt that the ending was a bit rushed with too many secrets piling out but overall a really enjoyable read. I would definitely like to read other books by Amy
Thank you to Netgalley, Bookoutre and Amy Miller for letting me read this book in exchange for an honest review .

When I first saw the cover and title of the book I knew I instantly wanted to read it. But once I started reading it I felt like I couldn't really get into it. It usually takes me a day or two at the most to read a book but I just kept picking it up and putting it right back down after reading a few pages. I didn't make it halfway through. You know when you read a book and you get to the point where you can't put it down you have to keep reading? I never got to that point. So maybe this just wasn't the book for me. I do have another Amy Miller book on my to be read list and I'm anxious to give that one a try.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for the chance to read this book!

The Saturday Supper Club follows Eve as she is persuaded by her boyfriend, a budding journalist, to join a competition (think- Come Dine With Me) ran by his newspaper.

I actually really liked this book! It was, as expected, an easy and engaging read albeit a little predictable. I liked all of the characters, especially the blossoming friendships struck up by the foursome hosting the dinners. I marked it down to only 3 stars because of the ending, It felt too rushed and too easy in comparison to the rest of the book, which was disappointing.

This was a standard romantic novel. Easy to read with interessting characters. The author attempted successfully I believe to engage the reader with the emotional lives of all the characters. They appeared to weave together in a believable way. My main criticism of the book is that it seemed to go on for a long time with not much happening. It seemed fairly inevitable that the main characters in the book were going to be together eventually and that conclusion could have been reached sooner..

Overall as an easy read it ticked all the boxes.

A laugh out loud book at times. The characters are done amazingly well. Amy Miller knows how to capture the audience. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Thank you netgalley.

I couldn’t quite connect well with this, it seemed a nice enough story, but I wasn’t really keen on the main characters and if I don’t like them, I’m not really involved, it just felt a bit flat.

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy for an honest opinion

The Saturday Supper Club, Amy Miller

Review from Jeannie Zelos book reviews

Romance, Women's Fiction

Bah, Humbug. Women's Fiction – that infuriates me. Why do we insist on having such an outdated category?
Anyway, the book. Well, I love a second chance romance, and when characters stories are unfinished like this I want to know how they will end when they meet, will that second chance take, will things work out or has too much changed.

Sadly it wasn't a great read for me. I love the cafe and how that was being set up, liked the idea of the supper club. I somehow felt the execution was lacking though, given the title, it didn't really take a major setting.
I found most of the characters strange, except for Eve's dad and his girlfriend. Though even Dad's actions were not right either over one event, he meant well but it was wrong. Eve was shilly-shallying between the two men, not really being fair to either. I don't like that behaviour, even though I understood her need to know, her shock at meeting Ethan again.
Some odd events are disclosed when Ethan finally reveals why he left and his excuse – well, it gobsmacked me. Really? She was upset so you ...?? and thought it wise to cuddle someone in those circumstances? What a berk, what a stupid man. I'd have never been able to trust him again.
There are times when things happen between couples that make me feel there is some exoneration, even though its wrong but this? Nope. Out Of Order Ethan. Then he took cowards way out.

I thought Joe was great at first but as we came to know him I found him a bit creepy, manipulative...and then of course things come out that confirm that for me.
Daisy – well, with friends like her who needs enemies is all I can say. Even when the story comes out she's still “poor me” “ I loved him first” even though he never had anything other than friendship with her.

Overall there were some interesting parts but the characters let it down for me, I didn't really like any of them, and that spoiled the story.

Stars: Three, I just felt with a bit of tweaking it could have been a great read for me but then I'm sure others will love it as it is. Horses for courses etc.

Arc via Netgalley

I really wanted to love this. It was an interesting premise -- a supper club contest of strangers that ends up including two people who used to be madly in love with each other. They haven't seen each other in three years and have a lot of unanswered questions between them.

The book started strong, but it started to drag on. I had a hard time liking the characters which made reading more challenging. For a contemporary romance novel, there were too many twists that seemed to just pile on at the end. If you need a weekend, romance read, this could be for you, but overall it wasn't my favorite.

There are book boyfriends and then there are sleazy asshole boyfriends in every novel but Ethan falls in a whole another category. I don’t think I’ve ever disliked a main character as I did with him. He was an A-grade asshole nicely wrapped with a pretty bow. My heart broke for Eve. She went through too much. Even Joe turned out to be pretty fickle in the end. I saw some saying that Eve should have ended up with Joe but no. I don’t think either one of them deserved her. She was amazing with shit luck for lovers and relations. Even her father although I admit it was in good faith screwed her over. I wanted to slap Daisy senseless and the ending was just too rushed. How can they reconcile so easily? What about Benji? Despite the story being well written my heart aches by the end as if I’ve lost someone. My heart ached for poor Eve and I’m so glad there was at least Elaine for her in the end. I’m not so sure I’m up to the modern world cuz believe me I would not have the mind and soul to forgive such people. Still Eve deserves the world for being such a strong woman. Despite her slight mistakes (everyone’s human) she deserved someone better than Ethan or Joe. I hope she does find someone else.

I want to give this book 4 stars, but I simply can’t get behind the story; Eve and Ethan and everything surrounding the relationship just causes me to get frustrated and shake my head. The writing is quite good and I’d love to try another novel and see if I like the author better.

I really enjoyed this book. I could not put it down and found myself reading a page here and there at a red light. All of the characters were very well developed. I was really torn for a while who I wanted Eve to end up with. I wonder if I would have made the same decision. I highly recommend this title for a fun, fast, read.

An interesting story with our heroine, Eve, who has been the ‘nurturer and cook’ for her family since her mother’s death when she was a child. Worried about her father, her sister the single mum whose relationship history with Eve is fraught with ups and downs, and her own budding relationship with her childhood best friend. But she’s still confused and obsessing over her ex, Ethan, who left three years ago with no explanation and no contact. And when Joe, her current boyfriend, convinces her to step in as a last minute replacement for the television show / contest The Supper Club, she accepts halfheartedly in the hopes that Joe will find it a needed career boost. Who should be the first guest on the first night that she is hosting the dinner but Ethan, sending Eve into a tailspin, a series of lies to Joe, and a ton of unresolved questions. None of which her best friend and partner in her soon-to-be-open café, or her father think she should explore.

There is a ton of funny in this story that mixes around Eve’s confusion and determination to ‘hurt no-one’ with her decisions about getting a real answer from Ethan and keeping Joe in the dark about her worries, thoughts and dreams. With her father starting to move on, her sister more hindrance than help, her best friend’s move to Dubai making her even more insecure and worried about the café AND her ability to make it work, and her constant upheaval and attraction to Ethan with his, quite frankly, cowardly behavior now and then, the story is full of twists, turns and tears.

Add to this the other two participants in the Supper Club show: a gorgeous woman with a flair for saying and acting just to the left of ‘outrageous’, an older soon to be father of twins with a drinks problem and more money than sense, their dinners are described in detail, with often hilarious results, most from hands too free with the wine. With her family issues and secrets coming out, the final decisions are up in the air after Eve’s café opens and a series of grand gestures and truthful hard talk brings everyone around to a solution, perhaps one waiting for ages. An interesting story and one that brings friendship, family and choices to the forefront, it was an interesting and quick read full of laughs.

I received an eArc copy of the title from the publisher via NetGalley for purpose of honest review. I was not compensated for this review: all conclusions are my own responsibility.

Review first appeared at <a href=” https://wp.me/p3OmRo-awX /” > <a> I am, Indeed </a>